Garment



E. CADOUS July 5 1949 GARMENT Filed June 16, 1945 Patented July 5, 1949UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

My invention relates to the upper or waist portion of garments to beworn particularly by women and may be adapted for skirts, slacks andother types of Womens garments.

Broadly, it is an object of my invention to provide a garment which isautomaticall adjustable to girths of varying widths without thenecessity of additional cutting, sewing, or other tailoring, or the useof fastening means, such as hooks and eyes, zippers, buttons and buttonholes, generally used for retaining the garment upon the person; mygarment retaining at all times the appearance of a finely tailoredgarment, which maintains its shape during the various movements of thebody.

Another object of my invention is to provide in a garment a combinationof elastic and inelastic areas so joined together to give the appearanceof a graceful and hand tailored garment without the necessity of usingpleats, tucks, or gathers.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide a garment withautomatic waist and thigh adjustability without the use of pleats, tucksand gathers or the necessity of surplus material, or the use of varioustypes of fastening means, which have heretofore been found necessary inthis art.

Another object of my invention is to provide an automatically adjustablewaist portion of a garment which assumes a graceful appearance and whichpresents a smooth and unpleated surface at the mid-section of the body.

A further object of my invention is to provide a garment which has agreat many advantages of a foundation girdle without requiring the useof a girdle when my garment is Worn.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide in such a garment,in addition to all the advantages heretofore described, a novel elasticsection to hold the rest of the garment in wearable position without theneed of an additional belt.

Another object of my invention is to provide in such a garment somemeans of abdominal support and. for aiding and supporting the h p Dtions of the body.

Heretofore it has been a disadvantage in garments purchased, to recutand. reset such garments in order to fit the different girths of eachpurchaser in order to assure a tailored appearance of the garment. It isalso necessary to pleat, tuck, and gather the material in the abdominalregion to provide a measure of adjustability for the varying girths ofthe purchasers; such garments do not generally find favor with thewearer since women usually prefer a smooth fitting, flat lying garmentabout the abdominal and waist region of the body.

The use of a band of elastic fabric forming the top portion of such agarment for adjustability does not solve the problem, since arectangular elastic band requires the cloth of the garment along theline of jointure of both these areas to be pleated, tucked, or gatheredto permit the inelastic area of the garment to expand to the increasedgirth. Such a result is unsightly and lacks gracefulness and theappearance of a tailored garment. If the cloth were not pleated, tuckedor gathered, the strain of the increased girth would stretch the elasticportion but would unduly strain or possibly tear the inelastic portion.

In my garment all such disadvantages would be obviated, and anadjustable garment provided having all of the objects heretoforedescribed which may be made by cutting the elastic portion so as toprovide a line of jointure between the elastic and inelastic portion.This type of construction eliminates the need for unsightly pleats,tucks or gathers and various types of fastening means, and produces agarment which moulds itself to the shape of the body and fits snugly andgracefully upon the person of the wearer. A garment so constructed forone girth and width about the waist and hips is readily andautomatically adjustable to a person of large proportions. The garment,when used by a person of increased girth and width about the hips andwaist, requires no cutting, sewing or other tailoring. When the garmentis drawn over the legs and when the thighs are reached, which aregenerally the widest portions of the body, there is no danger ofabnormal strain or possible tearing of the inelastic fabric. My garmentwill easily pass such wider Width without the necessity of using pleats,tucks or gathers or separable fastening means to compensate for suchincreased width. The necessary elasticity is provided by the elasticmembers at the waist and hip portions. The fabric along the line ofjointure remains smooth and gives a tailored appearance, the increase inwidth being automatically provided by the elastic members at the waistand hip portions thus obviating the need of tucks, pleats, gathers andvarious types of separable fastening means. If the line of jointure ofthe elastic and inelastic fabrics had been cut horizontally across thegarment, the inelastic cloth would have been placed under an excessivestrain in passing the thighs and might result in tearing or weakeningthe garment when drawn over the thighs.

My garment eliminates all of such disadvantages, obviating the necessityof a foundation girdle and. gives a neat, smooth and graceful appearancewhich is sought to be attained by the use of a foundation girdle.Furthermore, abdominal support is provided and also support for the hipportions of the body. My construc- 5 tion also permits the incorporationin the garment with an area which may be braced by bone or spring steelsto provide additional support for the abdomennand other pontions ofethebody, leaving the garmentfadjustable, .neat; comfort 1O able, tailoredand graceful in appearance.

My invention also resides in the combination; and arrangement of partsand the details of construction as herein set forth and claimed.

In order to clearly explain and .describer-my. 3

invention to others, I have shown it applied to slacks and skirtsalthough iti!may easilyibes ape plied to other articles of wearingapparel such as trousers of all kinds,, pajamas, tennis shorts, mensshorts and other articles to produce all of the objects -and advantagesabove enumerated.

My invention is -illustratedin-1the accompany-'- ing drawings, in whichFi'gal is-a frontjelevation-ofa skirt=with the lower portion cut away:

Fi 2 is aside" elevation 'ofthe' skirt shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is -a front elevati'on' of-"a modified skirt.

Fig-L 4 1s *az-fr'ont elevationof another modified skirt;

Fig. 5' is a front elevation-of still another modifi'ed skirt.

Fig: 6" is a front elevationf still anothermodif fied skirt.

Fig. 7 shows an' elevational sectional viewtaken along "line 1'--l 'of"Fig; 8 viewed inthe direction of the' arrowi Fig; 8; is a -frontelevation ifr' perspective ofthe upperportionof a pair offslacksshowing-the provision of-a sectionopposite theabdomen and 40 rearregion', said section containing bon-e or spring steel members.

Fig; 9 'is' an=:elevationa1 "diag rammatic; view of the sectioncontaining the boneror spring steel members. 4.

Fig; 10 is a :front= el'evati'on of' apair; of slacks showing afurthersmodification; in-

the line of jointure in whichthe elastic area is interrupted byfltheinelastic fabricwhielr'is carried tothe top otithee sla'ck's.

' Fig. 11 is=a front elevationzef aepairof-slacks showing another 1modification in the "line of J' ointure:

Fig; l2 is a front elevation-of apair of "slacks showingafurtl'iermodification in the line of jointure:

Fig-131s afront eleyation of alpair, ofslacks showing anothermodification in the line of join: ture'.

Similar numbers refer to sir'nilar.parts.through out the several views.

Referring to. the drawings, skirt a -=is .madeof: ordinary. fabric. 2 6of inelastic material, save for the limited I stretch proyidede,bygplacing 1 the mae terial on the. bias; which}. fabric comprises themain .-portionof-the garment; .thefbalanceof the garment beinggvmadeazof f elastic: fabric 21. n Theelastic fabric is \preferab'iy? madeof the *typeof cloth: :in" which rtheethreads are acombination Y offabricf and; rubber: yarnsin -order to provide clas tici'ty: in": the vresulting fabric; The elasticity in this fabric isflinf the -direc-tiomof-"the width- -ofthe garmennathat is, in-a horizontal plane;andbeingsub'stanti-ally inelastic along its verti'cal a'xi'sz 75 4 Thisfabric is well known in the art and particu-- larly in the girdle art.

In Fig. 1 the skirt is provided with front and back elastic sections 28and 29, respectively, and substantially triangular sections 30-30 oneach side of the garment. The arrows on sections 28 to 30, inclusive,represent the horizontal stretch of such elastic members and suchsections are stitched...togethen and alsoatouthe. fabric 26 as shown inthe drawing taproduce aagarment which fits gracefully and smoothly atthe waist and hips and the upper portions of the thighs. The sideportions 30 drop to a point 3| at the thighs in order to assure properadjustability in the garment.to p ersons of wider girth and proportions,

"thus permitting the garment to be drawn onwithoutytearing,.thesintermediate elastic cloth 2B and preserving thesmoothness, grace and neatness of the garment. The horizontal stretch ofthe elastic members also permits uniformity of height of the; bottom ofthe skirt 1 from" the ground. No pleatsgathersytucks, buttons, buttonholes; hooks and eyes; zippers; or similar devices=are necessary. Thefront andback elasticsections. give'th'e appearance of a,- belt ormaybe: concealed bya new. while still providing1the aclded stretch forthe-- garment.- The comparative. narrowness; of the elastic front andback; sections- 28 and 29, while insuringfiproperlfitgwillinot:causeiexcessive perspiration at the: waistline ofz:thevwearer; Ifsuch; elastic memberswvere to=beimade too1wide in the height; in. warmweathenzthe wearer Would he causedatonperspirenmone:freely In-rEig; 3::the'sinelasticafabr-ic 26.5-is. :carried; between: elastic .2 front.and: backir 'sectionsi 32 32 respectively. The triangularrside sections:30 are the. same; and: the: result T of: the action; ofv thisgarmentiisaveryymnchi.likel that i'sh'owrn in Figs. 1- and/.2;-v Alb of:the& elasticnmembersn stretch horizontally;

In FigaA zalla of :the:memberslare identical' with that of'Flig,3:except that-.iinsteadiofxstraight sided triangularz:sideifisectionsg.suchiusidea sections are curvedsassshownabyline 344.43; x

Thecfi'gure. showminFig: 5 issidentica/lwith that showncirrFig'. .1;except thatithe; triangular side sectionsiarepurved;aslshowmat 35-r-'35instead of straight as: shown: in Fig-s1: 1. and 12;;

In Fig: 6iallthezsectionstareaidentical with that shown in Fig. 5;except that-:thefifron-t-iand back elasticcsectiorrsid-roprlower :ir r.th'eficentral. portions as-sh'own by numera'Is'S 6.36i;

Referring; topFigs. .75Ea-nd :8}: thereeis disclosed 1a modifications ofJ-my inyerrti'oniin which the gar= m'en t 'is .providediwitlr.:sectiorrs3F! ifront and back, irr. -constructing-atsaid?- sections;inelasticfabric is cdtatowae size: and? shape corresponding to. lines o,.e f; andsgeasshmmr in:- Figs. Strand-9. On-to onexfaee -tofrthesectionzthereeare-zaflixed stays' 38; either of:b'oneonspringsteellTheserare confined upon the. ssurfacea ofr= the section: by sewin-stripsof:taper39izoverxtlrem; The SCtlDIlS th1HS -1COm-.. pleted arethen made part of .the gemment ibysewing.:the:.:samenwithinzthezgarment"). front xand back aseindicated;..by sewingralongslinesac; d',e; f, and ig aslshowmin Fig: .8;

In insertingxsections-z Slcwitliim the garment; in thermodification inmy inventiorrshownin Figs; 7 8 and 9;outer seamsrare*left'unsewed for ashort distance commencing: helow pointst wtand 144 I and along;HWIBSMQ-I 4 2;": In' this; condition. of "t-he. :gariment section's- 31;the front *and* bacle are readi-l'y' fitted withintlie.garment, againsttlie correspond mg -elastic sections and-*arethen stitched along lines0, d, c, and g topermanently-afiixthe same to the garment; the bottomline of said sections shown in dotted lines in Fig. 8 is left hangingfree and unsewed. The garment is then completed by completing the sewingof the seams to the top of the garment. The result is a garment which:as the additional features of added support and contraction for theseportions of the body to assure in certain instances additional neatnessand grace in the wearing of ladies apparel.

If desired, the garment may be provided with an elastic section in thefront alone, or with the elastic section in the back alone, leaving thefront or back respectively of inelastic fabric, if it is desired toobtain the advantage of my invention on one side of the garment; Iprefer to use an elastic section, however, in the back and front.

In Fig. 10 the inelastic cloth 42 is carried between the elastic sidesections 4343 to the top of the garment. Sections t3 are stretchablehorizontally as indicated by the arrows to provide an identical resultto that of the heretofore described skirt except that the application isto slacks.

In constructing the garment the elastic and inelastic sections are cutseparately, according to pattern and the two joined along the line ofjointure by sewing. Of course, it is possible to prepare the trouser orleg region and to knit integrally with this section, a section ofelastic fabric so as to produce a garment having the prepared line ofjointure. In the usual method of manufacture, however, the garment willbe made in the manner indicated out of two separate sections; theelastic and inelastic sections then being joined as indicated.

The elastic section may be comprised of a single front and single backportion, the two being sewed together. It may also be made of one pieceor the elastic portion may be comprised of four quarters to wit: a frontand back for the left side, and a front and back for the right side, thefour sections being sewed together to form one unit, this being thepreferred manner of construction.

In Fig. 11 the upper portion of the slacks is somewhat like that shownin Fig. 10, except that the side sections 44-44 are joined together atthe central portion so that the elastic members present a horizontalstretch all around the waistline as indicated by the arrows.

In Fig. 12 the slacks shown are very similar to those shown in Fig. 11,except that the side sections 45-45 have their lower portion straight asshown at 4646 instead of curved, and stretch horizontally around thewaistline as indicated by the arrows.

The slacks shown in Fig. 13 are very much like those shown in Fig. 12,except that the side sections 41-41 have the lower portion of the frontand rear portions cut so as to present points 48-48 as shown in thefigure. The elastic members 41-41 provide horizontal stretch around thewaistline.

In all of the above modifications, I employ the principle of having theline of jointure so designed that the lower portion of the side or hip 6sections are in a lower plane than the lowest point of the centralsection of the elastic members, thus presenting an inelastic fabricsection between the elastic side sections.

I claim:

1. A garment having a lower part of inelastic fabric to conceal thelower limbs of the wearer, an upper elastic band about the waist and hipregions of elasticity across the width of said garment, said elasticband being lowest at the thigh regions and narrower across themidsection of the body of the wearer the narrowness of the elastic band,at the midsection of the abdomen of the wearer, approximating that of aconventional belt, and a flat seam uniting said band at its lowermostboundary with the lower part of said garment whereby the region of unionremains sufficiently elastic across the width of the garment to varyinggirths, to conform the same to the shape of the wearer.

2. A garment having a lower part of inelastic fabric to conceal thelower limbs of the wearer, substantially triangular side sections ofelastic fabrics having horizontal stretch at the upper side portions ofsaid garment, elastic front and back sections at the upper portion ofsaid garment, said front and back sections joined to the upper edges ofsaid side sections, said sections presenting a horizontal stretch aroundsaid garment, at the midsection of the abdomen of the wearerapproximating that of a conventional belt, said sections being stitchedat their lower portion to inelastic material comprising the rest of thegar ment, providing an area with inelastic material between said elasticside sections, whereby the upper portion of said garment has sufficientelasticity across the width of the garment to fit varying girths and toconform itself to the shape of the wearer.

3. A garment having a lower part of inelastic fabric to conceal thelower limbs of the wearer, substantially triangular side sections ofelastic fabric having horizontal stretch at the upper side portions ofsaid garment, elastic front and back sections at the upper portion ofsaid garment joined to said side sections at the midsection of theabdomen of the wearer approximating that of a conventional belt,inelastic material on the bias joined to the lower portions of saidelastic sections, said inelastic material running to the top centralportion of said garment whereby sufficient horizontal stretch isprovided across the width of the garment for varying girths and toconform the same to the shape of the wearer.

ESTHER CADOUS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,149,271 Lazarus Aug. 10, 19152,092,152 Daniel Sept. 7, 1937 2,334,311 Cadous Nov. 16, 1943

